I have the 9827 and I love it.  XM, 3 sets of 4v preamp outs, MP3s,
and its real easy to find songs on a cd filled with mp3s...  Decent
display, it reads mp3 id tags, so it can scroll the band/album/song
names, bitrate, etc..And it sounds great.  After you get used to where
all the menus go, you can get to any function very fast..

The only slight down side is there's no real EQ...  But there ARE
bass, treble, and sub controls, and you can select the crossover freq.
where the boost/drop is centered around, so you can still make it
sound really good.  I have no complaints about shaping the sound.

Only other deck I had in the last 5 years was a middle-of-the-line
JVC, which was ok back when it was new, but is kinda sucky by todays
standards..  The Alpine beats is no question in SQ..  I can't really
give you any comparisons,

I took the plunge and bought one too, had a older cda-7930 for 8 yrs and it
was time.Worth every penny wished I'd plunk down a few more bucks and gotten
the 9831 (my amp doesn't have a x-over). I have noticed that you can't use
the quick file search for mp3 discs when the unit is in the mix mode. Go
figure.  BUY IT.